This evening at a government-owned luxury hotel in the heart of Delhi, Indian Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh was chief guest at an event to release a book Assault on Merit: Civil Military Relations by former criminal lawyer R.K. Anand, a man of reportedly questionable credentials, whose legal career is perceived to have thinned down after he ran foul of the Supreme Court following a TV sting that exposed him influencing witnesses. There has been debate over whether it was appropriate for a serving Army chief to endorse a book of this kind, as his presence at the release no doubt does. His endorsement of the book comes on the back of the high-profile age row that peaked with the Army chief suing the government (and losing) earlier this year.

There is a sense that even if the Chief chose to endorse the book only to send out a message to the government before he retires on May 31 -- and this is, without a doubt, the principal reason for his association with the book and his interview to one of the co-authors -- it is peculiar that he would choose to tango with someone of R.K. Anand's reported credentials, which seem to go completely against precisely the sort of thing that the Army chief speaks out about.

There's a great debate on Headlines Today tonight. I'll post the video later.

Authoring the most controversial book on Nira Radia, prominent lawyer & politician, Mr. R.K Anand is all set to release his second book â€œASSAULT ON MERITâ€ which speaks of the untold stories of civil-military relations. The book will be released on 25th May at the Hotel Ashok, New Delhi by the Acting Chief of The Army Staff, General V.K. Singh,

Veteran lawyerâ€™s first book, â€œClose Encounter with Nira Radiaâ€ did a record selling of 1,50,000 copies in a dayâ€™s time but got banned later. Thereafter, R.K Anand is showing remarkable zeal & dexterity in taking on the govt. & complaisant bureaucrats in his next book. â€œASSAULT ON MERITâ€ has strung together a series of cases he handled in High Court which clearly demonstrate that unless the political class of this country, backed by complaisant bureaucrats, gets its act together and vigorously desists from sacrificing the merit system and the rules in Army promotions at the altar of favoritism and nepotism, the nationâ€™s security will be under continued jeopardy â€“ in the hands of uniformed guardians perhaps less than qualified to hold the posts to which they have been promoted.

These well-documented case histories go to the very heart of the controversy over the date of birth of general V.K Singh, Chief of Army Staff & are a must read for all who wish to understand one of the main causes for the growing trust deficit between Indiaâ€™s apolitical armed forces & the politicized bureaucracy.

The book unravels about the Army Generals who were found worthy of promotion and were passed over or retired. These military historians make a strong case that patronage, favoritism and disregard for excellence and the merit system could, perhaps, have been a major cause of a lack of adroit leadership in the senior ranks of the military that led to the disastrous defeat of India at the hands of China. The book has been edited by Mr. Inderjit Badhwar and a special chapter has been added by Mr Kunal Verma.

Authoring the most controversial book on Nira Radia, prominent lawyer & politician, Mr. R.K Anand is all set to release his second book â€œASSAULT ON MERITâ€ which speaks of the untold stories of civil-military relations. The book will be released on 25th May at the Hotel Ashok, New Delhi by the Acting Chief of The Army Staff, General V.K. Singh,

Veteran lawyerâ€™s first book, â€œClose Encounter with Nira Radiaâ€ did a record selling of 1,50,000 copies in a dayâ€™s time but got banned later. Thereafter, R.K Anand is showing remarkable zeal & dexterity in taking on the govt. & complaisant bureaucrats in his next book. â€œASSAULT ON MERITâ€ has strung together a series of cases he handled in High Court which clearly demonstrate that unless the political class of this country, backed by complaisant bureaucrats, gets its act together and vigorously desists from sacrificing the merit system and the rules in Army promotions at the altar of favoritism and nepotism, the nationâ€™s security will be under continued jeopardy â€“ in the hands of uniformed guardians perhaps less than qualified to hold the posts to which they have been promoted.

These well-documented case histories go to the very heart of the controversy over the date of birth of general V.K Singh, Chief of Army Staff & are a must read for all who wish to understand one of the main causes for the growing trust deficit between Indiaâ€™s apolitical armed forces & the politicized bureaucracy.

The book unravels about the Army Generals who were found worthy of promotion and were passed over or retired. These military historians make a strong case that patronage, favoritism and disregard for excellence and the merit system could, perhaps, have been a major cause of a lack of adroit leadership in the senior ranks of the military that led to the disastrous defeat of India at the hands of China. The book has been edited by Mr. Inderjit Badhwar and a special chapter has been added by Mr Kunal Verma.

Field Marshal KM Cariappa retired as c-in-c Indian army,at he age of 53.Lt.Gen Thakur Nathu Singh retired at 51.Gen.Thimaya at 55. Sam had to cool his heels for 18 months, before he was promoted as corp commander. Lt.Gen SPP Thorat retired before he was 55.Had Thimaya not superseded , Lt.Gens. Sant Singh & kalwant singh, he would be chief during 1962. And Timmy would have made a difference. There are lots of ifs and buts. But what VKS has got to do with all these?
We are left with the only reasonably functioning apparatus of the state,that is the armed forces.let no wrong light be spotted on them.

Mr. R.K Anand is all set to release his second book â€œASSAULT ON MERITâ€ which speaks of the untold stories of civil-military relations. "ASSAULT ON MERITâ€ has strung together a series of cases he handled in High Court which clearly demonstrate that unless the political class of this country, backed by complaisant bureaucrats, gets its act together and vigorously desists from sacrificing the merit system and the rules in Army promotions at the altar of favoritism and nepotism.